I'd had several MRI scans before, so I wasn't nervous at all when the technician strapped me down to the table, placed a pair of headphones onto my ears, and placed a small bulb in my hand to squeeze if there was a problem. The IV that had been placed in my arm a few minutes prior was also routine, and the technician hooked it up to the machine that would inject the contrast at the right time to get the images they needed.

 

The nurse and scanner technician left the room, and for a moment, I was alone, wearing nothing but a hospital gown, strapped down to a table in the middle of a room. Then, the headphones seemed to turn on and there was a voice letting me know that they were putting me in the scanner now, just as the table started to move into the narrow tube.

 

As always, I heard the familiar loud clicks and buzzes of the scanner and obeyed the technician's voice in my ears telling me to breathe in and out, sometimes asking me to hold my breath. I felt the coolness of the contrast running into the IV in my arm, and the procedure repeated for the second set of images. None of this was anything new or unusual; in fact, as usual, I was feeling quite relaxed and had to try to keep myself awake so I could follow the directions.

 

That was when my typical MRI experience ended. The voice in my ears had said this set of images was complete, but I didn't feel myself being brought out of the machine like I usually would at this point.

 

"Hello? Is it all done?"

 

I thought about squeezing the bulb, but just as I was getting ready to do so, I heard the technician's voice in my ears again. They sounded apologetic.

 

"Sorry about that, we were just checking your requisition. Your doctor actually requested a third set of images this time. Is that alright?"

 

"Sure, I guess, if my doctor needs it."

 

"Such a good patient..."

 

That was odd. Like they were praising me for consenting to a medical procedure. But I wasn't too worried about it. In fact, the praise felt kind of good...

 

Once again, I heard the now-familiar technician's voice in my ears telling me to breathe deeply, hold, and exhale a few times. This time, though, I heard other voices in the background, sort of whisper-y. I guess there must be other people having conversations in the booth or something. I couldn't really make out what the other voices were saying, so I focused on the soothing voice of my technician instead, obeying their instructions.

 

I noticed that there wasn't the same clicking and buzzing this time that there was for the first two sets of images. It was oddly quiet, allowing me to focus more intently on the voice in my ears. As well, the tube of the scanner had started to very subtly move from its usual grey colour to a faint lavender, which darkened and started to twist and swirl before my eyes. Normally, there was nothing terribly interesting to look at, so I kept my eyes closed during these scans, but I couldn't take my eyes off the enthralling colours spiralling before my eyes. It just felt so good, so right to look at...

 

I felt a coolness in the IV in my arm yet again. I had a brief thought of "Oh, I guess they need contrast for this bit as well," but it slipped out of my mind as quickly as it had come.

 

I didn't know if it was the contrast with the coolness of what was in the IV, or some kind of reaction to it, but my body began to feel warm. Not the hot, panicky heat of an allergic reaction to it, but a pleasant warmth that I found myself just sinking into. I felt the warmth and the spirals pulling me down, and had a feeling that something might be very wrong? But it just felt so nice, so I left the warning bells behind as I followed the feeling deeper and deeper.

 

As I did, the warmth began to leave my fingers and toes, then my arms and legs, leaving behind an intensely relaxing comfort. I continued to hear the technician's voice in my ears, along with the background whispers, but I was no longer hearing the words with my conscious mind. The warmth did not leave my body entirely, however; it simply moved, collecting in my core, turning into an insistent heat between my legs. I whimpered slightly and blushed, knowing the technician could hear me. I tried to squirm in spite of knowing I had to stay still for the scan, but it didn't matter anyway; even if my body weren't strapped down to the table, it was too relaxed for movement to even be possible. I simply obeyed without thinking the technician's instructions to breathe as they directed and endured the hot need in my core.

 

I whimpered again.

 

"Shhhh, dear, yes, I know. Don't worry. Everything you're feeling is what's supposed to happen. Remember, if you want to get out of the machine, just squeeze that bulb in your hand."

 

I vaguely remembered the bulb that had been placed in my hand. I attempted to move my fingers to make sure it was still there, but they were almost too relaxed to even continue to hold it, let alone squeeze it. In fact, in my experimentation, the bulb slipped from my hand.

 

Not that I had wanted to squeeze it anyway.

 

This was bliss. I could stay here forever.

 

Maybe I would. Who knew what else this machine could do?